IRAQ

DAY 1: meeting up at Baghdad airport, getting together with the local team and transfer to the Southeast to visit the ruins of Ctesiphon, a thriving city of ancient Mesopotamia. You are able to admire the Taq Kasra with its valuable arch. Move to Babylon, the mythical capital of Mesopotamia, considered one of the first megalopolises in history and famous for its hanging gardens. Visit the ruins of the city and the replica of the legendary Ishtar Gate. In the immediate vicinity of Babylon, visit the palace of Saddam Hussein, the lavish summer residence of Rais, where the opulence of marble floors and frescoes coexists today with decay and graffiti. Travel to Karbala, visit to Imam Hussain Shrine and Abbas Shrine, check-in and dinner in Karbala

Morning: breakfast and transfer to Najaf. Check-in at the hotel and visit the city, one of the most sacred centers for Islam worship. Visit to the Imam Ali Mosque, built in 1632, which with its minarets and gorgeous golden dome, represents Najaf’s most famous shrine

Afternoon: visit of the Imam Khomeini’s house museum, the famous ayatollah guide of the Iranian revolution in 1979, who lived in exile in Najaf for 14 years. Visiting the immense Wadi al-Salam (Valley of Peace) cemetery, the largest Islamic cemetery in the world dating back to the 6th century. It contains the tombs of some of the greatest prophets and imams in the history of Islam. Walk through the souqs of downtown and visiting the Grand Mosque of Kufa

Evening: dinner and evening in Najaf

Morning: transfer to southern Iraq, destination being Basra. We’ll stop along the way, near Nassiriya to visit the Ziggurat of Ur, a large monument dating back to the Sumerian era. It was built in the 21st century BC and restored several times over the thousands and thousands of years

Afternoon: continuation of the itinerary, arrival in Basra, the metropolis of southern Iraq and check-in to the hotel. Visit the center with its souqs, and walk on the cornices along the Shatt-al-Arab, which forms from the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates a few kilometers north of Basra (one of the main waterways of the Middle East and the subject of contention between Iraq and Iran during the 1988 war)

Evening: dinner and evening in Basra

Morning: breakfast and transfer to Al Qurna, for a visit to the confluence of the Tigers and Euphrates near the dusty town. Visit of the Adam’s Tree Park and excursion on board local boats to discover the area of the Mesopotamian marshes in direct contact with the local population, which still today finds sustenance from the rivers just like 4000 years ago

Afternoon: continuing along the route to the north and arrival in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Hotel check-in and early exploration of the chaotic city centre

Evening: dinner and evening in Baghdad

Morning: visit of the Abbasid school, also known as the Baghdad School, an important institute of Islamic art built in the 12th century during the Abbasid caliphate. Copper Market, Al Baghdadi Museum and old cafes in central Baghdad around the Almutanabi Road visit

Afternoon: continuing of the tour with a walk in the centre of Baghdad and in Al-Khazimiyya which is considered a holy city by the Shiites. Nowadays, it has been incorporated by the expansion of the capital, with the ability to visit the golden mosque of Al-Khazimayn. At sunset travel to the Al Shaheed monument, also known as the martyrs’ memorial, erected in 1983 and dedicated to Iraqi soldiers who fell in the Iranian-Iraqi war fought between 1980 and 1988

Evening: dinner and evening in Baghdad

Morning: transfer to Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the main centre in the north, a short distance from the Kurdistan border. Approximately 200km north of Baghdad, it will be possible to begin to see signs of the presence of ISIS, which occupied the territories of northern Iraq between 2014 and 2017. Visit of the western side of Mosul, most affected by the invasion of ISIS that is still very degraded and in a state of semi-destruction

Afternoon: visit of the eastern side of Mosul, with its lively souq, one of the busiest and most chaotic in all of Iraq. Visit the ruins of the mosque of the prophet Yunus from the outside, destroyed by Isis. Check-in at the hotel and rest up

Evening: dinner and evening in Mosul

Morning: early departure and transfer to Kurdistan. Although not internationally recognised, Kurdistan has complete autonomy from the rest of federal Iraq. It will therefore be necessary to cross a border and change means of transport and guides. Since crossing over, the economic well-being of Kurdistan has been higher than in the southern regions of Iraq. Shaqlawa Historic City Tour and Lunch

Afternoon: scenic drives between the areas with the greatest landscape interest of Kurdistan: the canyons of Rawanduz, deep and very green close to the cold season, Mount Korek and the Bekhal waterfalls. On the way back to Erbil, we’ll stop at the Gali Ali Bag waterfalls. Arrival in Erbil in the late afternoon, check-in and have some free time in the city

Evening: dinner and evening in Erbil

DAY 8: day dedicated to the visit of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. The city has a thousand-year history which you can still feel within you nowadays. Visit of the Citadel, a thousand-year-old fortress that dominates the city with its high ochre walls. It resisted the fierce siege of the Mongols in the 13th century. The citadel has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Walk through the picturesque streets of the old bazaar for the latest purchases and transfer to the airport in order to say our last goodbye

DAY 9: (optional) it will be possible to add a second night in Erbil depending on flight schedule and the willingness of participants to have more time for sightseeing